Darksiders 3 Review

"Unleash the Power"

Campaign

Darksiders 3 is the latest entry in this franchise that follows the Horseman of the Apocalypse many years after their first ride. Things have changed, Earth has been basically destroyed and is now a constant battlefield. With this third release players take on the role of Fury, the sibling that does not care for anything. She gets a mission and just goes for it, it's a great attitude that fits into her unique combative style. She has been tasked by the council to head back to Earth in order to eliminate the Seven Deadly Sins.

That is the general just of the narrative, but along the way she discovers secrets and begins to learn a bit more about the problems surrounding her brothers. The story is actually rather interesting and well developed. It's told largely through cutscenes, but you also get the classic walk and talk scenes. Fury is paired with a Watcher, which allows her to have someone to bounce jokes or general information off of. This works well, and I quite liked the chatter between the two. There's also generally a good amount of character development for Fury, she's angry yet still has something extra going on there.

Gameplay

Darksiders 3 is certainly a great looking game, especially on Xbox One X. The visuals are impressive and they paint a very post-apocalyptic world with some elements of humanity still left there. The areas are generally open world in approach, yet linear in design. For the most part you know where you're going, but as you continue to explore an area they can start to feel like mazes. You don't really get much guidance either so I found myself lost at times as to where to head next.

One element that truly annoys me is with death. I played on the standard difficulty and while it's not too hard, death is annoying. When you perish, you'll start at your last visit to a local demon that is a totem of your progress and you have to fight back through everything you've done. At times you'll spend twenty minutes working through a place, so it's annoying to deal with enemies you've already fought for however long. At times this encouraged me to just run by enemies as I was tired of it. It seemed like a style of gameplay that was from the last generation, that part was awkward.

It becomes a fatiguing element and just wears you down. It also doesn't help that any enemy is powerful enough to swiftly strike you down; I never felt like some powerful goddess that Fury is supposed to be, no matter how much I leveled her up. To see these menial troops knock her down so easily, it's just ridiculous. That aside, the totem demon I mentioned is how you get around fast. He's a checkpoint system for you, a way to fast travel and how you primarily level up by giving him souls. There are RPG elements here as you improve your character in a few categories.

You can also enhance your gear over time and you'll unlock Hollow elemental types that allow Fury to switch it up. The first two are fire and a electric style attack, both present unique weapon combinations. This is a game of patience, you'll need to dodge and then strike when appropriate. It's definitely not for those that want straight up action, it has a style to it. Fury looks great when in motion slashing her whips around or unleashing more powerful attacks, shards also assist as they grant health or extra boosts. There's a plethora of enemies to fight and some really varied environments. I loved the look of the world and the various creatures I'd fight within it. Those monsters were gruesome, ferocious and their Deadly Sin leaders were even crazier. I will mention that I faced a few infinite load screens and just black screens, these were primarily during boss fights. Not something I felt was a big issue, but an aspect I wanted to mention.

The Conclusion

Darksiders 3 is a solid next entry in the series with Fury being a strong lead providing charm and rage fueled will. The character has a mission and it's great to see how that becomes somewhat shifted as obstacles begin appearing in her way. The narrative was well developed, I just wish the general setup of the levels was better. The replay of the same area, possibly multiple times just becomes annoying. Some might like this type of gameplay I suppose, but I certainly did not enjoy it. It becomes rather frustrating over time when I'm just trying to progress the story elements.

The combat was well done, it looks cool and feels great. There are some neat moves you can pull off, I just didn't really ever feel like an over powered Horseman of the Apocalypse. Despite my best efforts and multiple level ups, generic foot soldiers would trample me as I tried to just push past them. The bosses were awesome, the Seven Deadly Sins were a great choice and they work well providing a distinct selection of monstrous entities to fight. This game delivers being an exciting time with plenty of gameplay to experience. Work through it without wandering, or go out and search for secrets as there are side paths to take to where you're going.